Ray W. Washburne, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, issued the following statement after meeting with staff to announce that he will step down from the agency on March 1, 2019. Executive Vice President David Bohigian will take on the President and CEO duties at that time:

When I first came to OPIC, I committed to building and strengthening the organization. So I am tremendously proud of the work we accomplished with the Trump Administration and Congress to advance the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act into law, which experts have called the biggest advance in U.S. development policy in a generation.

Thanks to the hard work of OPIC’s dedicated staff, we are having real impact around the world. OPIC’s 2X Women’s Initiative has helped set the standard for investing in women; our work in the Northern Triangle has mobilized more than $1 billion in capital to help bring greater prosperity and stability to the region; and our Connect Africa Initiative is focused on supporting critical infrastructure, technology and value chains on the continent. OPIC’s work to build partnerships with critical allies like Japan and Australia put the agency in a better position to advance the Administration’s goals in the Indo-Pacific.

I return to my family in Dallas knowing that we have a great team in place – led by David Bohigian – who will lead the transformation of OPIC into the new United States Development Finance Corporation. I’m thankful to President Trump and the entire team at OPIC for the opportunity to lead a devoted organization that has impacted so many lives in the developing world.